Collins’ assertion is supported by research done by two American professors and one Danish college professor, who found that the Southern slave owners were able to rebound more rapidly economically than non-slave owners after the Civil War.

McConnell has not mentioned—either personally, or in his 2016 autobiography, The Long Game—that his family owned slaves.

As a legislator, he generally has been supportive of civil rights measures—and he has said that his parents, whom he has described as “very enlightened Southerners,” opposed the rampant segregation that surrounded his family in northern Alabama

However, like most Republicans, he supported the narrowing of the Voting Rights Act by the Supreme Court in 2013, and has also been an advocate for strong voter ID laws. Both positions have been criticized by current civil rights leaders for making it more difficult for minorities to vote.

The slavery issue, as well as his reluctance to discussion reparations, will not aid his cause, as he stands for re-election in 2020 against Amy McGrath, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel and combat pilot who says that McConnell is to blame for the dysfunction in Washington. Indeed, in her announcement video, McGrath said that the majority leader had turned the capital into “something we despise.”

Hot flashes, mood swings, sleep problems. Many women trade these uncomfortable, annoying—even embarrassing—symptoms of menopause in for a prescription for oral hormone therapy, and never look back.

But now there’s a reason to reevaluate. Researchers reported on March 6 that long-term use of oral hormone therapy may be associated with a small increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease in postmenopausal women.

Interestingly enough, prior research had indicated that hormone therapy reduces the risk of vascular dementia; but the new study found no such good news related to Alzheimer’s.

“It prompted us to do research on Alzheimer’s disease to see if the same results persisted, but it doesn’t look like hormonal therapy provided a protective effect on Alzheimer’s,” lead author Dr. Tomi Mikkola, supervisor for the obstetrics and gynecology doctoral program in clinical research at the University of Helsinki, told NBC News during a recent interview.

“But the findings should not be a cause for alarm. For the short-term management of hot flashes, night sweats and disruptive sleep, the benefits of hormone therapy seem to outweigh the risk.”

In recent years, considerable attention has been given to the role of menopausal hormone therapy. Two 2017 studies found that the period when a woman starts to produce less estrogen, usually in her 40s, may be a critical point in whether she’ll go on to develop Alzheimer’s or not. Researchers concluded that the hormone estrogen is protective for a woman’s brain, stimulating growth and keeping it healthy. But the natural drop in estrogen during menopause means women lose that layer of protection, NBC News reported..

“Women should not use hormone therapy for the expressed purpose of trying to improve memory or reduce cognitive decline, but when used for early menopause the benefits are sure to outweigh the risk for short term treatment,” said Manson.

Because the study was observational, it isn’t definite that long-term hormone therapy causes Alzheimer’s disease. Other risk factors, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or having the APOE gene weren’t included in the study — these may have also contributed to many of the women’s increased dementia risk.